Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 14, 2025

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
Published on: June 13, 2021
Editorial: Mental Health in Pregnancy and Child Development: Implications for Mental Health Service Delivery
Allison G Dempsey1, Sage N Saxton2
1University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora.
Insights
Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) impact child development. Maternal stress during pregnancy can lead to adverse emotional, behavioral, and brain development outcomes in children.
Area of Science:
- Perinatal mental health
- Developmental neuroscience
- Maternal-child health
Background:
- Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are common and require identification in obstetric and pediatric care.
- Maternal prenatal adversity, including stress and depression, is linked to negative child outcomes.
- These outcomes include altered emotional/behavioral functioning and brain development in offspring.
Discussion:
- Potential mechanisms involve fetal ontogenetic vulnerabilities due to maternal PMADs.
- Disruption of early parent-child bonding is another key pathway.
- Understanding these links is crucial for early intervention.
Key Insights:
- Maternal mental health during pregnancy significantly affects child development.
- Prenatal adversity can manifest as structural brain changes in children.
- Early parent-child relationship quality is influenced by maternal PMADs.
Outlook:
- Integrating PMAD screening into primary care is essential.
- Further research into neurodevelopmental impacts of maternal mental health is needed.
- Developing targeted interventions can mitigate adverse child outcomes.
Abstract:
Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are a significant and prevalent group of mental health concerns, and there are growing expectations for them to be identified and addressed in both obstetric and pediatric primary care settings.1,2 Adversity during pregnancy, including maternal stress, depression, and/or anxiety, has been shown to be associated with adverse outcomes for the child, including emotional and behavioral functioning and changes in brain development such as cortical thickening and white matter structural differences.3,4 There are multiple potential mechanisms to explain these associations, including ontogenetic vulnerabilities (ie, developmental changes in the fetal period) resulting from physiological effects of PMADs in pregnancy, as well as disruption of the early parent-child bonding relationship that often occurs with PMAD symptoms.5.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Stress and Mental Health
Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
Community Based Intervention
Foundations of Community Mental Health Programs
Central to the success of community-based interventions is the...
Theoretical Approaches to Psychological Disorder
Biological approach
The biological approach posits that internal, organic factors are the primary causes of such disorders. This perspective emphasizes brain structure and function, genetic predispositions, and neurotransmitter imbalances. For example, schizophrenia has been associated with both genetic...
Psychodynamic Therapy
Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...

